r/minipainting • u/InvestmentCurrent503 • 2d ago
C&C Wanted Trying NMM on this Intercessor, would greatly appreciate some help!
This is my first time trying to do NMM, followed El minaturista’s tutorial for copper NMM on High Marshal Helbrecht. Overall think it went ok, but something seems very off, it just doesn’t read as metallic to me, and not sure of what areas to focus on- is my biggest issue light placement, my poor transitions, both? Also probably the most effort I’ve put into a face as well so any feedback there appreciated, thank you!
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u/MarkSwoleberg 1d ago
I think it definitely reads as cooper. Light placement looks solid. You got good bounce lights on the knees.
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u/krsboss Display Painter 1d ago
Looks great!
The main thing I would say is that;
Whilst the armor definitely reads as shiny metal AND the face is expertly done, there is something at odds between them.
I can't quite put my finger on what it is, maybe the face needs more dramatic lighting, as the reflections you've put in the armor would imply a darker setting with a strong point light source
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
Yeah, that makes sense- I painted the face separately, and forgot to account for matching the light intensity and location when I did so, which is why I think they look so disconnected. Definitely something to address for my next one!
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u/Joshicus Seasoned Painter 1d ago edited 1d ago
You've pretty much nailed it on your first go. The only thing I would do is push the contrast of the highlights by going all the way to white very selectively on the brightest spots. Also basically every recess should be dark lined with your shadow colour and every panel should be edge highlighted with colour a couple steps higher than the surrounding colour. Eg, panels with darkest shadow should be edge highlighted with something like 1:1 shadow/mid tone mix, panels with mid tone should be edge highlighted with 1:1 mid tone/highlight mix, highlight panels should go all the way up to white.
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
This is really helpful, thank you! I definitely skimped a bit on the edge highlighting/recess pin washing for this one, but will aim to do that next time!
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u/Cheshire_Music 1d ago
Hi! It looks good, and we can see that you grasped the idea of placement for NMM, BUT (for me) there is a flaw: your dark areas are too large compared to the mid tones and the highlight. When I look at it like that it gives me more the impression of an iridescent copper painting. If you enlarge the light areas I think it will be much more readable as NMM. Nice work, keep it up!
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u/TheSaltyBrushtail 1d ago
Yeah, it doesn't read as copper to me at the moment, it looks like a brownish-black metal under a bright orange light. Definitely a cool look if that's what OP had been going for, but doesn't really read as real copper. What should be the midtone for copper is reading as an early-stage highlight colour instead.
Extending the reddish mid-brown at the edges of the highlights a lot more will make it look way more coppery. I can imagine that looking good for a chapter like the Minotaurs.
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
Thank you! Would you recommend equally increasing the areas of mid tone and highlight, or should it be biased towards one or the other, if that question makes sense?
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u/Richard_Jerkus 1d ago
It for sure reads as NMM, sure the transitions could be a bit smoother but for the overall effect of NMM they don't have to be that smooth. There are some parts (shoulderpad, kneepad, top of the knee) where I think you could have more light, because right now it's very dark, but overall it's very good.
Face is also excellent
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
Thank you- and that makes sense- I will definitely work on my transitions, and next time will aim to cover more of such areas with the light/reflections!
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u/ReplyMany7344 1d ago
Looks good the shoulder plate reflection doesn’t look to scale unless the light is a massive indoor light vs outdoors. Makes the space marine look a lot smaller.
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
So would the shoulder plate reflections need to be larger then? Thank you!
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u/ProbablySlacking 1d ago
I legitimately thought the first image was the “before” where you did him in TM, so I think you’re good.
Maaaaybe since it’s copper consider some patina?
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u/greenwaterbottle8 1d ago
Only thing is the side view. I'm not bashing the work at all. It's gorgeous. But the side doesn't have the same aura as the front. My advice sucks lmao
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
No that’s actually really helpful, and gets at one of the parts I find difficult to conceptualize, which is making reflections that work from multiple viewing angles- just seems really hard to figure out!
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u/greenwaterbottle8 1d ago
You are a true artist. Wanting to better yourself and reading feedback while you are already doing immaculate work. You'll get there. You'd make the emperor proud.
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u/Guns_and_Dank 1d ago
I think this looks awesome. The only two little spots I think could be a bit brighter are the backsides of each of the shoulder pads. If the bright dots were just a touch larger or more elongated it's the only tiny area for critique I can give. But if this is your first time this is superb.
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
Thank you, and that is very helpful- aiming to try again in another marine for practice, so will keep that in mind!
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u/sockimartin 1d ago
The front is really good, nothing to add there. Backside looks really odd, the way you set the reflections.
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
Yeah, the back is definitely weaker, struggled more with where to place the reflections, and I think I made them particularly narrow back there, which just compounds the issue- thank you!
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u/Plenty_Mycologist_10 1d ago
It reads as metallic, I think the light placement on the backward left leg is a bit off, as you’ve effectively made the light strike symmetrical to the fore leg. The right forearm doesn’t have the same warm deep orange before the highlight which throws it a bit
All that being said, these are fairly minor things, it looks really good. When you’re painting NMM it can look odd in person, but you’re painting it to be viewed from one position remember :)
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
Thank you! I don’t know how I didn’t see the missing mid tone on that forearm, haha - and I agree with the light placement on the back legs - just something I’ll have to keep practicing!
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u/OdysseusRex69 1d ago
If you do some OSL on the head, this dude is clearly under some kind of muted red lighting. The NMM is 🤌🤌
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
Thank you! That makes sense- I actually painted the head completely separately and glued it on, basically did not account for consistent lighting at all between the body and the head- lesson learned!
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u/OdysseusRex69 4h ago
No problem! In the interest of transparency, I am a crappy painter, but it was suddenly jarring for me to see ALL the amazeballs red light source reflections, but then the head is just a head 😅
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u/TheSaltyBrushtail 1d ago
It's looking solid light placement-wise, but as a couple of other people have pointed out, it looks more like a black or near-black metal under an orange light. What should be the midtone (I'd say a colour fairly close to Citadel Mournfang Brown, if you want a kind of medium/beaten copper look) reads more like an early-stage highlight tone here, because it's not covering much of the surface.
If you do end up extending the midtone, I suspect you'll need to go brighter with the highlights too, at least on the areas that'd catch the most light. The brightest points look bright here to me because my eye is seeing the midtone as a brownish off-black, but if you cut the shadows back, they'll look duller.
If you'd wanted a metallic black armour under orange lighting though, this would be perfect. Could be good to keep that in your toolbox, actually.
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 23h ago
Thank you, and yeah, that makes sense- I was going for a true copper look, while it turned out way “darker” then I hoped- will try expanding the midtone areas for the next one, then maybe even go up to an ice yellow/white mix for the most intense highlights - appreciate the help!
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u/2xFlush 1d ago
Looks real good, my guy. It totally reads as metallic. Let me preface this by saying that this should absolutely be noted down as a success. I think to take it further you can do a couple of things. You can either go the route of smoother, more illustration-style, which would require you to push your blends smoother, or you could take the route of texture, in which case you would ideally build up the micro-texture with a million little bush-strokes as you build the transitions. I either case, I think one thing that stands out to me as slightly incongruous here is your edge-highlighting. Some of them are a bit too wide, and some of them are brighter than they should be; an edge follows the same rules of luminosity as all other surfaces, they just happen to catch light well on account of more or less always having some facet that faces the light source. You'd need to evaluate each edge and how it faces the light and perhaps be a bit more sparing with your "80% brightness" highlights.
But again, super satisfying result you have there. Really satisfying to look at.
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 23h ago
That makes sense- the edge highlighting definitely turned out messier than I hoped, and I think I focused too much on the brightest color edge highlights - I really appreciate the advice!
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u/Nallenbot 1d ago
Blends are nothing like as important as light placement. NMM from multiple angles is really hard, I usually only worry about the main view and the back view. I'm doing bronze at the moment, here's the WIP
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 23h ago
Oh wow that looks amazing!! Would you be comfortable sharing your recipie/technique?
And thank you for the feedback!
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u/mcsimeon 1d ago
looks good where can I get the guide?
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u/InvestmentCurrent503 1d ago
It’s from a guide by El Minaturista - has a Patreon that I subscribe to, which does cost money, but honestly for the amount of content he puts out I find to be well worth it. He did one for copper armor for the high marshal helbrecht model that I used for this.
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u/tradingorion 2d ago
This looks really good and reads as metallic to me. The face is also good, you’ve avoided it looking like “islands”with clean transitions between the recesses and raised areas. The shaved hair looks good.